At the right side of this image is a small bright area that is more than two times more reflective than the surroundings. Bright, irregular depressions such as this, called hollows, are not found on the Moon or other rocky planetary bodies. Hollows are often found in small clusters or large groups, but the example here is more lonely and isolated. In the upper right corner of the image is a somewhat subdued two-kilometer diameter impact crater that appears to have older, less bright hollows in its upper wall.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 250-meter/pixel (820 feet/pixel) morphology base map or the 1-kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel) color base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution during MESSENGER's one-year mission, but several areas of high scientific interest are generally imaged in this mode each week.
The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.
Date acquired: October 02, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 226033182
Image ID: 833062
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 51.67°
Center Longitude: 319.9° E
Resolution: 26 meters/pixel
Scale:The edges of the image are about 27 km (17 mi.) long.
Incidence Angle: 52.7°
Emission Angle: 3.2°
Phase Angle: 49.5°
These images are from MESSENGER, a NASA Discovery mission to conduct the first orbital study of the innermost planet, Mercury. For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.
